Is it that time again? Yes it's that time again, been too long.
Lets hear some top albums of all time lists people. I wanna see em.
1. Atmosphere - When life gives you lemons
Yes I am aware this is a biased pick from an Atmosphere groupie but I dont give a fuck. There are two stinkers on here (relative to the brilliance of everything else) but the strength of the rest of the album is so strong it doesn't matter. This album benefits from coming out at a very unique time in my life, when I was transitioning from the most miserable time in my life to one of the best. It became my soundtrack. I can't listen to a single song without immediately being rocketed back to Seattle and all the good and bad times I had. Ant's production reached an entire new level and Slug sounded more mature and wise, adding a hint of happiness to even the sadder tracks. From the beautiful wild wild horses (a track I initially hated and now count as one of my favorite of all time) to the simple but touching Waitress to the bombshell twist of Yesterday. I love this album and doubt it will ever be knocked off it's top spot.
2. Nas - Illmatic
I actually came to this after it was written. It was 1996, and I had broken free of my singular focus on G Funk. Two years of obsessing over Doggystyle and The Chronic (and southerplayalistic as well to be fair) I suddenly found an appreciation for east coast hip hop I didn't have before. I bought It Was Written and enjoyed it, but I decided I needed to see what the fuss was about regarding his first album. Precise and intense without trying to hard to make you listen, every track was gold. I would play it all the way through and then let it start all over again. Every line captured your attention, every beat was unique. If not for the emotional connection that "When life" has over me, this would no doubt be my number 1.
3. Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle
I loved The Chronic, I still do. I had been fascinated by NWA and this was just something on a whole other level. I picked up the nuttin but a g thang single and listened to it nonstop all summer. When I got back to Nepal, I found a bootleg copy (which was all they sold there) in some tape store. The cover was just a photograph of the real cover, bent to fit into the cassette case. I thought it was the greatest thing ever made, until I heard doggystyle. Chronic was good, great even. But doggystyle was perfect. Not a single bad song on the entire album, I played it until the words on the front were rubbed off. And when it broke, I had my dad fix it. When it broke again beyond repair, I got a replacement copy. When that broke I got the CD. I listened to this album every single day before school, during lunch, after school, at home, before going to bed, and every spare second in between. I was obsessed.
4. Atmosphere - God Loves Ugly
I didn't like this album at first. It was just another set of tracks on my mp3 player that I downloaded because I had liked Lucy Ford and Overcast somewhat but not enough to count myself as a fan. I would skip most of the songs when they came on, not really being in the mood for that type of rap. But one day it just clicked. I listened to one song, and then another, and another and so on. I spent the entire day listening to the album over and over and proceeded to make it my go to album for months. Dark, angry, passionate, and clever. I had never heard anything like it before. It made me want to write about something that mattered. Some of the production doesn't hold up as strongly as it once did, but nothing stands out as bad. It remains a classic in my eyes, even with the band having surpassed it.
5. Scarface - The Untouchable
My "what the fuck?" entry. Most people who think of classic scarface name the Diary. Or even the Fix. But this album might as well not exist in the minds of a lot of fans. Seemingly wiped away from existence by the hype around Biggie, Pac, Wu, Nas and other big artists dominating hip hop at the time, this under-appreciated classic deserves a listen. It's another album that needs to "click". Once it did, I found myself sitting around for hours just letting it loop. Every song fits with one another, moving from the intro to the outro as one cohesive unit. It reeks of character and mood and atmosphere. The album itself is it's own entity, a dangerous OG telling it's dark stories to a captive audience.
6. Arrested Development - 3 years, 5 Months and 2 days
Wait...what? I recently rediscovered this album, forgotten and relegated to my memories as an album I enjoyed when I was younger. In comparison to their melancholy and frustrated sounding (yet still very good) second album, this one was pure fun. You can dance to most of it, bob our head, or just chill. It managed to preach without sound preachy (another problem with the second album) yet still just be FUN. It's singles were overplayed to hell and songs like Mr.Wendal come across a bit corny in this day and age, but if you can step back from it all and just appreciate it for what it is, you will have a damn good time.
7. Outkast - Southernplayalisticaddilacfunkymusic
ATLiens is a better album. But southern has better songs. Hootie hoo, deep, Aint no thang, the title track, playa's ball, and one of my all time favorites git up and git out. There were some truly awful moments (funky ride, too many interludes) but the tracks I listed above were just too damn good to let that hurt it. But wait, this is a best album list sidd, you fucking jackass, and you said atliens is better. Yes but southern also has that all important emotional attachment too. Once again reminding me of time in my life, first girlfriends in this case. Plus I have to honestly say I hated ATLiens when it first dropped, I wanted more Southernplaya, not this crazy aliens shit. It took me many many years to appreciate ATLiens.
8. Ice Cube - Death Certificate
The sheer intense fuck you in the faceness of Cube on Amerikkka's most wanted was hard to match, but Cube not only did it, but topped it. More mature and grown up than Amerikkka's, DC is funny, thought provoking, shocking, and just plain smart. The production is tighter and more interesting, the lyrics approaching far more subjects with more rage mixed with intelligence than anyone else, even Chuck D, could manage. Even when he was being borderline racist about Korean store owners and white people dating black girls, he still came across as someone you'd at least agree to disagree with. If this album had an emotional stamp on it from me (like lemons and southernplaya does) I have no doubt it would be top 3.
9. Biggie - Ready To Die
I briefly thought about putting Life After Death on here instead. I played the hell out of that album and the few songs I disliked grew on me over the years. But Ready To die has left a far bigger impression on me. It lacks the feeling of deliberately looking for a hit album that Life After Death had. It was just Biggie saying here the fuck I am, you will respect me. Most of the production is relatively simple but enjoyable, knowing it needs to play second fiddle to Biggie and his intense presence. Ready to die is a biggie album. Life after death is a bad boy album with biggie taking the spotlight.
10. Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
Yo, microphone check 1,2 what is this? This is the album that changed hip hop for me. It didn't have to be angry or violent or negative. It could be fun, irreverent, intelligent and light. The production is a brilliant display of how simplicity in beat creation isn't always a bad thing and doesn't have to result in boring repetitive beats. Phife and Tip are at the top of their game and every line sounds like it belongs exactly where it is.
Odd and honorable mentions
Kriss Kross - Totally Krossed Out : No, this wasn't a classic, not even great...hell it wasn't even good, merely average. But it deserves mention because for whatever reason, it was the album that inspired me to start writing my own lyrics. Possibly thinking that if these kids can be rappers, why couldn't my 10 years old ass?
Atmosphere - Sevens Travels : Almost vilified by some atmosphere fans. Perhaps I have the benefit of having thoroughly enjoyed this album long before encountering any hate towards it on the internet. The middle is very weak, and ruins the brilliant beginning and ends.
Makaveli - 7 Day Theory : Another album I was disappointed with at first. I wanted more All Eyez on Me and felt let down. But on a long road trip in Indonesia, this CD came up in my rotation and having listened to everything else I had, I figured why not. Perhaps it was the first time I really listened to it, or maybe it's because the first few songs outside of Hail Mary aren't all that impressive to be honest. But when it hits Just Like Daddy especially, the album changes. It becomes more than just good, it becomes brilliant and haunting. Every track from then on sounds like 2pac knowing just where he wanted to go as an artist from then on. And if Against All Odds was the last Pac song we ever heard from him, it would have been one of the greatest send off songs in history.
DJ Quik - Safe and Sound : This album could very very easily slide into the top 10 at any time. Just a few days ago it was, but I am so damn ADD I can barely keep a top ten list the same from hour to hour. I have no doubt it will be back in the top 10 within the week. Just a brilliant display of west coast gangsta funk, done with more intelligence and creativity than Dre could ever hope.
Common - One Day It Will All Make Sense : Common's most under-appreciated album. Resurrection is dope, and LWFC has some phenomenal songs (fuck ya'll, The Light is a classic) but this album just has...something. It's just so solid, so interesting. It feels like a mix of the softer common from LWFC and the harder Common from Resurrection, creating a unique mix I don't think we've seen from him since.
De La Soul - Stakes is High : De La was angry, De La was disappointed, De La was on point and coming with fire. I could put both De La is Dead and Mosaic Thump on here as well. De La are incredibly consistent and a lot of producers and rappers owe their styles and sounds to these guys without even realizing it.
Wu Tang - Enter the wu : This barely missed the top 10, only because it didn't age as well as I had hoped. Still definitely listenable though. The kind of album that made you want to be a rapper or punch people in the throat, or both.
DOC - No One Can Do It Better : The fact I didn't hear this album until I was much older is possibly the only thing that keeps it out of the top 10 and even top 20 for me. When I consider it in terms of what else was out at the time, it blows me mind to think how far beyond everyone else DOC was. But without the benefit of having actually heard it in that era, I otherwise just see it as an extremely solid old school hip hop album.
Goodie Mob - Soul Food and Still Standing : An almost blind purchase for me. I had briefly heard Cell Therapy on MTV but thats all I had to go on. I spent the summer playing the hell out of this album. A few forgettable tracks mar an otherwise brilliant debut full of amazing production and a group of emcees hungry to make their voices heard and most importantly, work as a cohesive group rather than a collection of emcees. Still Standing is another album with some unique memories attached to it's brilliant first half and weaker but still decent second half.
Kanye West - College Dropout : Oddly, I already feel like this aged poorly, which may in the end be my main knock against Kanye, his stuff doesn't hold it's age. But perhaps it doesn't matter, maybe his point was to make something brilliant for that specific time, and if so he succeeded. This was my go to album my last year of College, living in my car's cd player until it warped in the Florida heat. It was brilliant and refreshing, sounding like nothing else out there. I was a college Senior, I was cruising through my last two years, and after wasting too much time being a shut in, I was actually feeling comfortable enough to explore southern florida. Good memories, good music.
Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass : Most Aesop fans would name Float or Labor Days as their favorite. But for me this album brought me back to Aesop after losing interest for several years. The production is just brilliant.
UGK - Supertight : We had the best UGK album debate a few pages back but this one takes it for me for 4 specific songs. The Return (one of the best opening tracks ever), Protect and Serve, Pocket full of stones 2, and my favorite UGK song ever, front back and side to side. This is riding around music, you will feel like king of the motherfucking world with the subs blasting.
Fear of A Black Planet, The Chronic, Chronic 2001, License to Ill, The Infamous, SSLP/MMLP, Bow Down, and several others all deserve mention too.
And of course Wiz Khalifa's Rolling Papers...syke! Softer than baby shit in a ziplock bag up a fat girl's vagina.
